Matt’s Landfall & Homecoming (April 21st)

Matt is expected to arrive back home after circumnavigating both continents on Saturday, April 21st! Anyone and everyone is invited to witness this historic event and join Matt’s family and C.R.A.B. in welcoming him back to land.

He will be arriving around noon at the Annapolis City Dock/National Sailing Hall Of Fame dock. He will be escorted by boats of supporters, spectators, the U.S. Coast Guard, Coast Guard Auxiliary Annapolis, and the Annapolis Fire Dept. boat all starting from Thomas Point Lighthouse just south of Annapolis. A crowd, including media, will await him on the dock. He will step onto dry land for the first time in nearly a year and after over 25,000 non-stop and record setting miles alone at sea. Once Matt steps on the city dock, he will be greeted first by his family and then be welcomed back by Don Backe, C.R.A.B. founder and Lance Hinricks, C.R.A.B. Board of Directors’ President. Following that welcome, accompanied by the music of a local drum and bugle corps, Matt and his greeters will form up and move to the stage, where he will be greeted by local, regional and national dignitaries and elected officials. He will be recognized by various groups and individuals for his accomplishments and his bravery, dedication and commitment to the cause of those who are physically challenged. Afterwards, Matt will be available to the media for interviews, questions etc. Once finished, Matt and his family will depart for their weekend housing and reunion.

For anyone coming in from out of town, places to stay nearby include a Hampton Inn and Suites Annapolis; Days Inn (low budget); Hilton Garden Inn; Springhill Suites (reasonable costs). 1st class is the Annapolis Marriott, right across from landfall at City Dock.

Please spread the word amongst your sailing friends and attend the landfall event if possible. Lets all help welcome Matt back to dry land at long last!

39 Responses to Matt’s Landfall & Homecoming (April 21st)

That’s great news. I pray that all goes well from here to the dock.
Are there plans for having some snacks and refreshments available for the crowd?
I would be happy to help in this part of the welcome.
Meredith Higgins,
Silver Spring MD

DARN! I will be out of town that weekend. Matt I wish you and CRAB all the best and hope that there will be a way to see a recording somehow of the event. I have been following you daily since June. I hope to meet you someday and get an autographed copy of the future book.

Happy Easter and happy birthday Matt. I am looking forward to seeing you on the 21st. The Capital Newspaper had a very good article about you and Don Backe today. The article emphasized the good work that C.R.A.B does. I still find it amazing that you got through the NW passage and around the Horn. Shackleton once said that when he and two of his men were on the verge of collapse but still made it across South Georgia Island he felt like there was a fourth man. He and his men discussed this later and they had the same feeling.

Wow Matt. I’m excited for your return home! The whole fanfare things sounds totally overwhelming for a guy that’s been floating around on a small boat for a year… I’m imagining it will be difficult enough just to stand on dry land after that! I hope it goes well for you. Eli and I won’t make it, but we invite you here at any time to escape the madness and chill out. We have a guest house now in Fort Collins – it’s yours any time.

We are very proud for you and wish you all the best upon your return. I hope you are savoring the last few days of solitude and reflection!

I’d be utterly remiss not to be there for this momentous occasion. I spent nearly three years with Matt at ERS and learned so much from my peer. If it had to do with the government…Matt knew. If it had to do with electronic manipulation…Matt knew. Even topics dealing with relationships..Matt knew. I am extremely proud of him and will most definitely travel those few miles to Annapolis to give my undivided support for his accomplishment. PS- he made reference to buying a sailboat in a song that we did back in 2000 and if life doesn’t imitate art….wow!

I agree that Matt’s accomplishment is enormous and worthy of the fanfare surrounding his arrival to Annapolis. Would you consider scaling it down or at least allowing the man a hot shower, a stiff drink and perhaps some time to adjust to civilization again before thrusting him into the spotlight?

Cat, my thoughts precisely! Imagine being part of nature all this time then being assailed by a drum and bugle crop. How jarring and disorienting will this be for Matt? The press of humanity will apparently not be denied.

I’ll be interested to hear Matt reflect on this moment in three to five years. He’s in a depersonalized state. I’m sure this will be quite difficult for him.

Marcos & Fernando,
You should be very pleased…you started something! Yesterday, on the front page of the Annapolis newspaper, they described Matt as “MacGyver of the Seas”!

It has been so much fun to hear from our Brazilian friends. I would love to come visit you both perhaps next year! I have always loved Brazil in my heart because my uncle, David St. Clair, used to tell us little nieces stories about his trips down the mighty, mighty Amazon. He worked for Time and Life magazines back in the late 1950s and the 1960s. Oh, the stories he could tell! And the fantastic gifts he brought: a dried piranha, an anaconda skin, exquisite native clay figurines, etc. When David passed away, his ashes were given to Yemaja, goddess of the sea. How fitting that Yemaja would protect David’s favorite little nephew on his voyage!

Simon met Matt out in the Atlantic today for a brief rendezvous. They sailed together for a few hours while Simon charged up all of Matt’s electronics. He passed him some food and drink. There was a lot of good feelings about the meeting, all the way around. Simon said Matt is fit and looks great!

What a wonderful surprise for Matt, and for all of us, to have Simon sail out to him!! It must make Matt feel he’s even closer to the finish line of his remarkable voyage to see Simon’s familiar, friendly, face . . . and have the chance to have his electronic and technology charged and able to be used again. I was really worried when I heard that he didn’t have any of his electronics working . . . particularly since it was going to take a little longer than the 14th (the first predicted ETA) . . . but, mainly because he’s also going to be where there is A WHOLE LOT MORE SEA TRAFFIC the closer he gets to home!!!
A big ‘THANK YOU” to Simon, for giving us all such a nice, positive, surprise. I know that Mom Marlow, and his relatives are now resting a little easier . . . and so are the rest of us!!!

Matt ! Wow..
I don’t want to temp that old guy with the big forked stick.. but it
looks like you are catching some ‘good’ wind… I see 5.6k nnw at the moment.
(Be it good wind or gale, Predict-wind shows it blowing you in the right direction anyway!)

I have followed you just about every day since you were south of
Greenland.. Just beyond belief… what you have accomplished to this point.

You had a one person birthday..
prepare for one huge apre-B-day celebration man!
Keep a smile on !! Your ‘self’ deserves this!

Julie,
The web guru is Mike. You can email him if you scroll to the bottom of this page where it says, “Site Donated and Maintained by Mike McLinn”. Click on Mike’s name and it will bring up a contact box. That is all I know.
Marlowe

As Wayne says, it looks like you’re FINALLY making some good progress. In fact, I would anticipate an earlier arrival than 4/21…..probably halfway between the 14th and 21st. Matt, dear, I’m sure you won’t let all the planned fanfare dictate your arrival date. Just get yourself to Annapolis as soon as it’s safely possible! Perhaps a lower key arrival with your closest family and friends would be preferable ANYway to all the fanfare that’s being planned. If all that happens a day or 2 later, that’s FINE! Damn! I thought you’d NEVER get north of 29 degrees!!! Thrilled to hear that Simon rendez-vous’d and charged up your electronics. SCHWEH… i’ve been so worried! xo, Alison Spinney

George Hall and I are extremely excited about your return to the starting place…With assistance from above and assistance from your dear friends everywhere, we give thanks that you are so close to home. With strength of heart and pure determination, you have prevailed over the worst of circumstances and the best of adventurous experiences to reach a most treasured goal. What an awesome accomplishment! Thank you so much for sharing your journey with us. We have been forever influenced by your fortitude and determination. Welcome Home, Mighty Matt!!!
Karol Harlan

We will send our congrats from Montana – but sorely wish to be there and part of the welcoming party for Matt next week. A live feed would be appreciated by us, as well as I bet hundreds, if not thousands, of others who would love to watch that amazing landfall occur. Thank you for this voyage, this journey and this inspiration, Matt. We’re planning to set sail (albeit a much smaller journey in Mexico) in a few months and you’ve provided more encouragement and inspiration than you could ever know. Thank you and (almost) welcome home!

Matt, you’re amazing! I’m watching your progress from FL and think you might beat your projected arrival date. I hope you have a book planned, as well as many voyages in your future. Somehow, I don’t see you as the land-bound type… God speed and fair winds!

Wooh hooh! The winds for the rest of the week look better and better for crossing the Gulf Stream. The waves are kind of confusing, tho. They’re coming from ahead, while winds from Southeast. I hope you get across before Sunday (should at this speed). Matt, you may have some dallying time in the Chesapeake if the next few days are really good. (You could sneak into Herring Bay, south of Crab-town, hide out there until the 21st. We’ve got an open slip…) Very best wishes.

I guess after 290+ days of no stop use with no interruptions a few lost hours of transmission isn’t so bad. Its just to bad it had to happen now while everyone is waiting for Matt’s historic landfall. You must be getting awfully anxious for sons return.

I’m a little concerned about Matt’s reentry process. Matt and Mother Nature are joined at the hip right now, and an Annapolis waterfront, writhing with giddy people may not exactly be what Matt needs right now. My advice to Matt and his family is to make a bow wake directly through this frenzy, and find a quit place for a few days. Congratulations on what we must consider as perhaps the greatest passage in the annuls of sailing history.

Matt’s journey and return to Annappolis is truly one for the ages. I will be there but would urge all who attend to be deeply respectful of his courage and his need to for personal space; this is the first time in some 9 months that he will have been among throngs of people. After all Matt is the guy here, not us who watched or prayed or whatever. As Matt himself noted, “Posiedan will decide when this journay is over.”

Extremly well done, Matt. My deep and heartfelt congratulations.
I am not superstitious so I dare write this already, and I do hope that you will be able to keep old S:t Brendan floating and workable until the finish. I feel you will do it. — I have been sailing Vega no 7, named IMARI (after a Japanese harbour) since 1969. The boat was built 1966 and was one of the first 25 Vegas that were made then. I was also for many years the President of VODA, the Vega One Design Association. This is an umbrella organisation for the many national Vega associations among which the VODCA (as it was called first — Vega One Design Chesapeakebay Association — well thought!) was our American contact. Quite a few Vegas have made the trip around the world but none has ever been challenged to such a degree as S:t Brendan, and no skipper has made anything like your voyage. One of the first Vega circumnavigators was Dima Grenups, an Estonian born Swede. He and his boat came home, but on the deck of a cargo steamer. Dima was hit on the head at an accidental jibe in the South Indian Ocean. He survived to get home but died a year later. A more fortunate and successful circumnavigation was made some years ago by two young Swedish lads and one equally young lady. To boost their thin budget they sometimes took “paying guests” and were up to five (5) persons on some passages. In order to gain more stowage space onboard they threw out the heads (!) but they compensated comfort by padding the aft rail. The Vega World is full of wonders. — Now rest and relax! Eventually the ground will stop moving.
Lars Lemby

Matt's motivation for the trip is to show people, particularly those with disabilities, that there are no limits to what can be accomplished in life; and to raise money for Chesapeake Region Accessible Boating (CRAB), a nonprofit sailing program for people with disabilities, based in Annapolis, Md. Click here to learn more about CRAB.